tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/human-waste-13665/articlesHuman waste – The Conversation2018-02-20T14:37:28Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/917242018-02-20T14:37:28Z2018-02-20T14:37:28ZWhy your tourist toilet habits are bad for locals – and the environment<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/206809/original/file-20180216-50550-1yppnws.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=496&amp;fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>While many prospective holidaymakers actively seek a change in cuisine or climate when choosing their destination, standardised sanitation usually remains a must.</p>
<p>You might think that the preference for a porcelain pew is harmless, but in reality it can put a serious strain on both the local population and the environment. In fact, many of the most pervasive problems associated with tourism can be seen through the toilet bowl.</p>
<p>Research suggests that in some locations <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0261517711000793">up to 40% of water is consumed by tourists</a>. Tourists tend to splash out <a href="https://www.tourismconcern.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Unit2-Resource-A-1.pdf">far more per day on average</a> than local residents, who are often <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160738312000047">outcompeted</a> by industry for water access. Using limited freshwater supplies to flush tourists’ toilets means less for residents’ drinking, cleaning and cooking needs.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/207106/original/file-20180220-116360-1g3sdxp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=237&amp;fit=clip">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Don’t be scared.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/old-style-japan-toilet-415484425?src=dQP67N10AKsBsw_E8TjrIg-1-3">Heemsuhree/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Environmentally, the sheer volume of incoming tourists can come at a high price. Local sewage facilities often struggle to cope with the influx of human waste. Many small islands with limited infrastructure, <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Michelle_Mycoo/publication/249023794_Sustainable_Tourism_Using_Regulations_Market_Mechanisms_and_Green_Certification_A_Case_Study_of_Barbados/links/5591255108aed6ec4bf69627.pdf">such as Barbados</a>, have no choice but to pump raw sewage straight into the sea, putting vast swathes of the Caribbean’s coral reefs at risk.</p>
<p>This defecatory deluge also depletes limited water reserves. In Cape Town, hotels are having to <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/cape-town-drought-water-shortage-luxury-five-star-hotels-day-zero-laundry-showers-toilet-flush-pool-a8191966.html">abruptly limit guests’ water usage</a> as the city suffers drought. In Bali, fast-growing tourism demand is linked to <a href="http://www.idepfoundation.org/en/bwp/summary">rapid depletion of the island’s water resources</a>.</p>
<h2>Sanitation solutions</h2>
<p>These economic and environmental harms often stem from a misplaced sense of cultural superiority that accompanies us to the bathroom. The internet is awash with travellers’ <a href="https://thetravelmanuel.com/why-malaysia-has-the-worst-toilets-in-the-world/">toilet horror stories</a>, written with apparently little social sensitivity or willingness to compromise.</p>
<p>Those fortunate enough to be able to travel might want to remind themselves of UN estimates for 2017, which suggest that <a href="http://www.unwater.org/new-publication-whounicef-joint-monitoring-programme-2017-report/">61% of the global population</a> – roughly 4.5 billion people – lack access to a toilet or latrine that disposes of waste safely. Westerners tend to judge other cultures harshly, when really they should be judging global inequality, poverty and politics.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/xtn21JwhPiE?wmode=transparent&amp;start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
</figure>
<p>Perhaps some judgement should be reserved for people in rich countries themselves, where bathroom norms aren’t exactly perfect. For example, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/may/18/truth-about-poo-doing-it-wrong-giulia-enders-squatting">squatting</a> rather than sitting is better for the colon. Rather than a sight to be avoided, a glance at one’s waste before flushing can in fact be a <a href="https://www.cnwl.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/Healthy_Bowel-_Patient_Information_leaflet.pdf">quick and easy health check</a>. Embarrassment about bodily functions is inhibiting when holidays are meant to be liberating.</p>
<p>Different sanitation solutions suit different situations. The <a href="http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2017/11/17/world-toilet-day-2017">World Bank</a> and the <a href="https://www.worldwildlife.org/magazine/issues/fall-2016/articles/sustainable-toilets-and-their-role-in-freshwater-conservation">WWF</a> have both worked to celebrate toilet innovations across the world that challenge preconceptions and improve sustainability. For instance, <a href="http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2017/11/17/world-toilet-day-2017">urine-diverting privies in Bolivia</a> are an integral link in a chain that converts waste into fertiliser for growing crops. Cranfield University is developing the <a href="http://www.nanomembranetoilet.org/">Nano Membrane Toilet</a>, which converts waste into clean water and energy, without the need for external power or water.</p>
<p>Some Western tourist locations are already rethinking their taste in toilets. Composting toilets introduced in various Scottish nature reserves have proved <a href="https://www.fvl.org.uk/files/2314/5933/7417/Eco-loo_Case_Studies.pdf">highly popular with visitors</a>. Melbourne Zoo and other attractions have implemented <a href="https://www.zoo.org.au/about-us/vision-and-mission/environmental-sustainability/saving-water">water conservation and recycling measures</a> in restrooms, including waterless urinals. The increasing use of such practices by authorities and businesses will only help to challenge harmful expectations when people travel further afield.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/jGPpXF7y9Rg?wmode=transparent&amp;start=37" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
</figure>
<h2>Potty training</h2>
<p>There are also simple changes that tourists can make when going to the bathroom that will have a positive impact on the environment and local communities, and possibly even lead to more interesting holiday experiences.</p>
<p>Remember that different ecological settings require different bathroom styles. Always avoid flushing wipes and other non-biodegradables. In water stressed areas, be conscious of your water usage. Don’t demand what local people don’t have. The threat of extreme drought has forced Cape Town luxury hotels to ask guests to limit the length of showers, turn off the tap while brushing their teeth, and <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/cape-town-drought-water-shortage-luxury-five-star-hotels-day-zero-laundry-showers-toilet-flush-pool-a8191966.html">let it mellow if its yellow</a>, but actions like these could benefit locals in tourist destinations across the developing world.</p>
<p>Support small businesses. Their toilets may not always be gleaming, but the experience might be more memorable. While luxury tourism in developing countries <a href="https://theconversation.com/is-it-ethical-to-take-a-luxury-holiday-in-a-developing-country-80984">rarely benefits those in need</a>, going local is one way to contribute. </p>
<p>Lastly, nurture your sense of adventure. If you want to live like a local, you should defecate like one. Pack your hand sanitiser and spare toilet roll, and immerse yourself in local culture. Get ready to try out new facilities, not just whatever commode is à la mode. There are <a href="http://www.traveller.com.au/traveller-10-the-worlds-top-toilets-gzs1l0">toilet attractions</a> dotted all over the globe that are well worth a visit. For example, why not try the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/nov/09/south-korea-toilet-theme-park">Haewoojae Museum</a> in South Korea, solely dedicated to celebrating the lavatory.</p>
<p>We shouldn’t expect all toilets to look the same. Tourism is about challenging expectations, exploring alternatives and expanding horizons. For the sake of the environment and the vulnerable, it is high time that we became more open-minded and adventurous with our toilette when travelling. After all, when in Rome, wipe as the Romans wiped (using a <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2016/01/ancient-roman-toilets-gross/423072/">wet sponge on a stick</a>, apparently).</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/91724/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Brendan Canavan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>If you want to live like a local when on holiday, you should defecate like one.Brendan Canavan, Senior Lecturer in Marketing, University of HuddersfieldLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/796792017-07-04T14:41:57Z2017-07-04T14:41:57ZKenya should be focused on recycling, not banning plastic bags<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/176579/original/file-20170703-32612-16paa04.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=496&amp;fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Reusing and recycling of plastic waste makes more sense for Kenya than a ban.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Reuters/Luc Gnago</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Kenya recently <a href="http://www.npr.org/2017/06/08/532022819/kenya-announces-ban-on-plastic-bags">announced</a> a ban on one of the most common materials used in the country’s packaging sector - plastic bags. This <a href="https://www.coursehero.com/file/22124610/PRESS-STATEMENT-ON-TOTAL-BAN-ON-ALL-PLASTIC-BAGSpdf/">includes</a> the use, manufacture and importation of all plastic bags used for commercial and household packaging. </p>
<p>This isn’t the first time the East African nation <a href="https://www.economist.com/news/middle-east-and-africa/21719471-will-ban-make-kenya-cleaner-or-start-black-market-bags-kenya-tries">has tried</a> to do this and the directive comes about 10 years after the first attempt. That one failed, primarily because of a lack of consistent follow up on the agreed implementation plan.</p>
<p><a href="http://edepot.wur.nl/239452">My research</a> on the management of plastic waste in urban Kenya shows that this new ban is not realistic. The policy direction is not based on the local context or any extensive research regarding implications of the ban. It doesn’t consider the impact that it will have economically or give due consideration to other environmental alternatives.</p>
<h2>Kenya’s plastic bag industry</h2>
<p>Plastic materials offer a number of advantages over other conventional packaging materials. They are malleable, light, low cost and can be produced in a variety of shapes and sizes. Because of this, every year <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2873021/">over</a> 260 million tons of plastics are produced globally. Of this, <a href="http://www.earth-policy.org/images/uploads/press_room/Plastic_Bags.pdf">nearly</a> one trillion plastic bags are made and used. This makes them an important feature of the packaging sector. </p>
<p>Plastic bag manufacturing forms a <a href="https://searchworks.stanford.edu/view/6842718">sizeable</a> portion of the plastic manufacturing sector. It has a long history <a href="http://edepot.wur.nl/239452">dating back</a> to the 1930s. Today there are over 30 plastic bag manufacturers with a combined capital investment worth over USD$77.3million (Ksh5.8 billion). They <a href="http://edepot.wur.nl/239452">employ</a> up to 9,000 people, both directly and indirectly. Some 100 million plastic shopping bags are given out <a href="http://www.unep.org/newscentre/kenya-announces-breakthrough-ban-plastic-bags">every month</a> by supermarkets. This is a massive contribution to the plastics sector and to the country’s economy. </p>
<p>Plastic bags also have an extremely important role in the average person’s daily life as they stand out for their excellent fitness for use, resource efficiency and low price. For Kenya, where 56% of the population <a href="https://books.google.co.ke/books?id=JqvLm-ZRuP4C&amp;pg=PA98&amp;lpg=PA98&amp;dq=Kenya+population+lives+%22less+than+a+dollar+a+day%22&amp;source=bl&amp;ots=W7kGAofuJD&amp;sig=W8f6rnQrEfFHasCCztUghHMPYRg&amp;hl=en&amp;sa=X&amp;redir_esc=y#v=onepage&amp;q=Kenya%20population%20lives%20%22less%20than%20a%20dollar%20a%20day%22&amp;f=false">live on less</a> than a dollar per day, plastic bags support the <a href="http://www.cofek.co.ke/index.php/news-and-media/1157-cnn-marketplace-africa-features-safaricom-ceo-bob-collymore?showall=1">“kidogo” economy</a> - synonymous with the majority. This economy is based on the small amounts people buy - for example one cup of cooking oil, or a handful of washing powder or squeeze of toothpaste. To take these home they need the small plastic bags. </p>
<h2>Pollution</h2>
<p>But because <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2873009/">plastic bags</a> are resistant to biodegradation, they cause long-term pollution to various natural environments from oceans to soil. Of the 4,000 tons of single use plastic bags <a href="http://www.businessdailyafrica.com/corporate/539550-634076-6lyh6uz/index.html">produced</a> each month, <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/223907734_The_urban_political_ecology_of_plastic_bag_waste_problem_in_Nairobi_Kenya">about</a> 2,000 tons end up in Kenya’s municipal waste streams. Half of these are lightweight bags with a thickness of less than 15 microns.</p>
<p>Because of these issues, a variety of policy measures can be introduced to manage plastic waste. These include a ban on the production of certain plastics, levying taxes, mandatory recycling targets and adoption of anti-plastic bag campaigns.</p>
<p>Kenya has chosen the path of a ban on use, manufacture and importation of all plastic bags used for commercial and household packaging. But my research shows that plastic waste recovery and recycling is a better strategy for sustainable plastic waste management. This is particularly true for developing economies because employment opportunities can be created within the recycling chain.</p>
<p>One option that won’t work is substituting plastic bags with biodegradable ones. First, the tear strength of biodegradable packaging bags <a href="http://scholar.google.com/citations?user=2-94vuoAAAAJ&amp;hl=en">is low</a> compared to their petrochemical counter parts. They also have a <a href="http://scholar.google.com/citations?user=2-94vuoAAAAJ&amp;hl=en">high rate</a> of water absorption. Most developing countries are also not equipped with the technological <a href="http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12132-008-9022-0">capacity</a> to produce biodegradable material. Lastly, they are still not cost effective. The cost of most bio plastic polymers <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/223768207_Potential_of_Biobased_Materials">fall in</a> the range of USD$2-5 per kg, compared to approximately USD$1.3 per kg for the usual petrochemical polymers. These factors make biodegradables a poor substitution.</p>
<p>Which is why the solution lies with plastic recovery and recycling. </p>
<h2>Recovery and recycling</h2>
<p>The reuse and recycling of plastic waste makes much more sense – particularly since Kenya <a href="http://soderbom.net/Kenya_manufacturing_ch10.pdf">doesn’t</a> have a petrochemical industry needed to <a href="http://www.petrochemistry.eu/about-petrochemistry/what-are-petrochemicals.html">make</a> plastic. Raw materials for the plastics and polythene industries are imported from overseas.</p>
<p>Plastic waste recycling is not a recent phenomenon in Kenya - it <a href="http://edepot.wur.nl/239452">dates back</a> to the 1960s. A 2001 survey <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/275773357_Managing_plastic_waste_in_East">showed</a> that over 90% of Kenya’s plastic manufacturing industries have internal reprocessing capacity for their own waste and rejects. </p>
<p>Trading in plastic waste <a href="http://edepot.wur.nl/239452">has been</a> practised in Kenya since the 1980s. Waste pickers and small-scale traders started to sell unprocessed plastic waste directly to plastic producers for use as a raw material in the manufacture of new plastic products.</p>
<p>This plastic waste collection, by informal actors, presents a more realistic and sustainable solution to plastic waste management in Kenya. The waste becomes a source of raw material for the production of plastic materials, creating an interdependent relationship between solid waste management systems and plastic production. </p>
<p>Kenya needs to create an integrated plastic waste management system. It already has three <a href="http://edepot.wur.nl/239452">well established</a> categories of plastic waste recycling industries. These need to be properly linked to plastic waste collection and separation chains. </p>
<p>It would need the support and coordination from government, industry and civil society at all levels. Including:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Separating plastic waste from other waste streams and the further separation of various plastic materials for effective use of different polymer wastes in production.</p></li>
<li><p>The protection of waste pickers and those who add value including washing and sorting to plastic waste</p></li>
<li><p>The allocation of space for waste separation centres</p></li>
<li><p>Technological and financial support for waste processing</p></li>
<li><p>Education outreach programs </p></li>
<li><p>Plastic product marketing to popularise the diverse products</p></li>
<li><p>Introducing deposit and return systems in supermarkets </p></li>
<li><p>Improved transport logistics or plastic products and plastic waste so that such can reach their destinations in time.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Kenya would be better off pursuing waste management strategies. These include waste separation and the development of rules that require plastic industries to take back certain quantities of plastic waste from the solid waste management system to enhance recycling.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/79679/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Leah Oyake-Ombis works for ALISE consulting Group as the Managing Director. </span></em></p>The plastic bag ban doesn't consider the impact it will have on Kenya's economy or consider other environmental alternatives.Leah Oyake-Ombis, Part-time lecturer and Director of the Africa Livelihood Innovations for Sustainable Environment Consulting Group, University of NairobiLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/633792016-08-12T17:41:29Z2016-08-12T17:41:29ZAs Rio bay waters show, we badly need innovation in treating human wastes<p>In the months leading up to the Rio Olympics, there was growing awareness that Brazil had not met the water quality goals outlined in their bid, and that athletes might be swimming, sailing, rowing or canoeing in waters contaminated with untreated human sewage. News articles discussed the <a href="http://bigstory.ap.org/article/d92f6af5121f49d982601a657d745e95/ap-investigation-rios-olympic-water-rife-sewage-virus">poor water quality</a> in competition waters, <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/7-infections-you-could-catch-from-rio-de-janeiro-dirty-water-2016-olympics/">health risks</a> to the athletes and the reasons why the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/27/world/americas/brazil-rio-water-olympics.html">US$ 4 billion pledged</a> to greatly reduce the flow of untreated sewage into Guanabara Bay had not materialized. </p>
<p>A common theme of these articles was one of shock: that sewage was being disposed of untreated into the environment, that water quality was so poor and that elite athletes might risk their health to compete in the Olympics.</p>
<p>These articles are accurate: There is health risk to Olympics athletes, and having athletes compete in water contaminated with human sewage is reprehensible. In the next few days to weeks, we’ll learn what consequences there might be of this broken pledge. </p>
<p>However, what is missing from many, but not <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2016/03/what-happens-when-theres-sewage-in-the-water/476013/">all</a>, of the coverage is that the situation in Rio is not only not abnormal, it is common. Currently, about one-third of the global population (<a href="http://www.wssinfo.org/fileadmin/user_upload/resources/JMP-Update-report-2015_English.pdf">2.4 billion people</a>) does not have access to sanitation facilities, such as a latrine or sewerage system, including 946 million people who have no facilities and practice open defecation. Another <a href="http://www.gatesfoundation.org/What-We-Do/Global-Development/Water-Sanitation-and-Hygiene">2.1 billion</a> urban residents worldwide use improved sanitation facilities that do not safely dispose of human waste, including <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23323809">1.5 billion</a> who use sewerage systems without treatment. </p>
<p>Rio’s water problems also highlight the limitations of reliance on centralized wastewater treatment systems. To meet the needs of the billions of people who suffer the health consequences of untreated human sewage every day, we need new technological innovations and approaches to sanitation provision. </p>
<h2>Varying treatment around the world</h2>
<p>Americans might be surprised to learn how recently current-day sewage treatment was introduced. </p>
<p>Today’s sewage treatment in the United States has its roots in engineering innovations from the late 19th and early 20th century. During this time, U.S. cities installed water systems that provided piped, treated and safe water supplies to households. This provision is credited with large <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15782893">reductions in infant and child deaths</a> and elimination of <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Sanitary-City-Infrastructure-Colonial-Landscape/dp/0801861527">epidemic diseases such as cholera and typhoid</a>.</p>
<p>With the installation of these water supplies came the need for household wastewater disposal. Sewerage systems, where household wastewater is centrally collected and disposed, were first installed in the early 1900s. <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Sanitary-City-Infrastructure-Colonial-Landscape/dp/0801861527">By 1940, half of the population</a> with sewers also had some water treatment before disposal. In more rural areas, septic tanks were installed. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/133859/original/image-20160811-28926-1y8djyu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/133859/original/image-20160811-28926-1y8djyu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Deer Island wastewater treatment plant was the centerpiece of a project to clean up the Boston Harbor. It wasn’t fully operational until 2000.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/52614599@N00/2452880753/">Doc Searls/flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Over time, treatment and environmental disposal improved. The Boston Harbor, for instance, was once known as one of the <a href="http://www.mwra.state.ma.us/01news/2008/bhpenvironentalsuccess/bhpenvsuccess.htm">dirtiest in the U.S.</a> The centerpiece of the $3.8 billion cleanup project is the <a href="http://www.mwra.state.ma.us/03sewer/html/sewditp.htm">Deer Island</a> wastewater treatment plant, which became fully operational in the year 2000, treats wastewater for over 2.5 million people, disposes of water 9.5 miles into the ocean instead of into Boston Harbor and vastly improved Boston Harbor water quality. In the year 2000, in North America, about <a href="http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/monitoring/jmp2000.pdf">90 percent of wastewater was treated</a> before disposal.</p>
<p>The United States’ situation, unfortunately, is not the norm. </p>
<p>In the year 2000, the percentage of urban wastewater collected through sewerage systems <a href="http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/monitoring/jmp2000.pdf">treated before disposal</a> was only 66 percent for Europe, 35 percent for Asia, 14 percent for Latin America and the Caribbean, and less than one percent for Africa. </p>
<p>In Rio, only 12 percent of sewerage system wastewater was treated when the city was awarded the Olympics; that number is estimated to be <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/olympics/us-athletes-focused-on-medals-not-water-quality-ahead-of-rio-olympics/2016/03/09/def96766-e63b-11e5-b0fd-073d5930a7b7_story.html">65 percent today</a>. While this is an impressive improvement, it is short of the pledged 80 percent.</p>
<iframe id="datawrapper-chart-v2mQA" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/v2mQA/1/" frameborder="0" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" webkitallowfullscreen="webkitallowfullscreen" mozallowfullscreen="mozallowfullscreen" oallowfullscreen="oallowfullscreen" msallowfullscreen="msallowfullscreen" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>The health effects of exposure to human sewage are myriad, including <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/7-infections-you-could-catch-from-rio-de-janeiro-dirty-water-2016-olympics/">diarrhea</a>, the cause of <a href="http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs330/en/">760,000 deaths in children</a> per year worldwide, and <a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0073784">stunting</a>, which impacts <a href="http://thousanddays.org/tdays-content/uploads/Stunting-Costing-and-Financing-Overview-Brief.pdf">162 million children under five</a> throughout the world. Due to these health consequences, in 2007, <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1779856/">sanitation provision</a> was voted the greatest medical advance since 1840 by readers of the prestigious British Medical Journal.</p>
<h2>Technical and social innovation</h2>
<p>But reversing these health threats will require that countries take a different path than that the U.S. took during the 20th century. </p>
<p>The primary challenge of improving the current worldwide sanitation situation is that the three existing sanitation solutions – sewerage systems, septic tanks, and latrines – have limitations. </p>
<p>Sewerage systems are expensive to install, and are fixed systems that lack the ability to rapidly expand with population growth; septic tanks require land with appropriate soils; and latrines require space, fill quickly and do not treat waste.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/133860/original/image-20160811-18023-1q9ydfx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/133860/original/image-20160811-18023-1q9ydfx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=237&amp;fit=clip"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Because installing centralized sewage treatment plants is expensive and plants do not expand quickly to match population growth, alternative methods such as regular waste collection businesses are needed.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/gtzecosan/6975282147/">gtzecosan/flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Thus, there is need for new sanitation technologies that isolate human waste from the environment and provide options for the fastest-growing segment of the worldwide population: those living in densely populated mega-cities and urban slums. There is active and <a href="http://www.gatesfoundation.org/What-We-Do/Global-Development/Water-Sanitation-and-Hygiene">ongoing research and programming</a> in developing alternative approaches and technologies, some examples of which include:</p>
<ul>
<li><p><a href="http://www.communityledtotalsanitation.org/page/clts-approach">Community mobilization strategies</a> using education to encourage communities to completely eliminate open defecation by triggering the communities’ desire for collective change. These programs can encourage local development of sanitation solutions, and certify communities as open-defecation free.</p></li>
<li><p><a href="http://saner.gy/our-work/the-sanergy-model">Systems-based approaches</a> where sanitation facilities are built and franchised by local operators that charge a per-use fee or are installed in community institutions. Waste is collected and converted at a centralized facility to organic fertilizer, insect-based animal feed and renewable energy.</p></li>
<li><p><a href="http://www.sanivation.com/">Social enterprise services</a> where container-based toilets are installed in homes at no cost, and a monthly charge is assessed for waste collection. Waste is then transformed into briquettes and sold as a clean-burning alternative to charcoal.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>While there are promising advances, many are currently small-scale, and more work is needed to reach the 2.5 billion without access to any improved sanitation facilities and additional 2.1 billion urban residents using improved sanitation facilities that do not safely dispose of human waste. </p>
<p>As the Rio Olympics proceed, and we hope for the health and safety of the elite athletes competing in contaminated waters, let us also consider – and work to improve sanitary conditions for – the billions of people worldwide who daily suffer the health consequences of living in an environment contaminated with human waste.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/63379/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Daniele Lantagne does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Expecting the rest of the world to adopt expensive, centralized sewage treatments systems common in the U.S. is not realistic.Daniele Lantagne, Assistant Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Tufts UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/361362015-01-13T19:29:43Z2015-01-13T19:29:43ZBiogas: smells like a solution to our energy and waste problems<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/68788/original/image-20150113-23795-uzyxie.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=496&amp;fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The Western Treatment Plant in Werribee, Victoria, largely powers itself using biogas – a by-product of sewage treatment. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/cat.mhtml?searchterm=western%20treatment%20plant&amp;language=en&amp;lang=en&amp;search_source=&amp;safesearch=1&amp;version=llv1&amp;media_type=&amp;page=1&amp;inline=198966998">Jason Patrick Ross/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Could what we flush down the toilet be used to power our homes? Thanks to biogas technology, Australia’s relationship with organic waste – human and animal excreta, plant scraps and food-processing waste – is changing, turning waste into a commercial source of renewable energy. </p>
<p>A recent <a href="http://secure.environment.gov.au/wastepolicy/consultation/submissions/pubs/006-zerowasteaustralia.pdf">report </a> suggests that Australia produces about 20 million tonnes of organic waste per year from domestic and industrial sources. This in turn accounts for a large portion of national greenhouse gas emissions. <a href="http://australianpork.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Fact-Sheet-Manure-Management.pdf">Manure from livestock industries</a> alone accounts for 22 Mt of carbon dioxide equivalents.</p>
<p>Organic waste, when broken down by bacteria, produces a methane-rich “biogas” that can be used to generate electricity and heat.</p>
<p>According to <a href="http://ecogeneration.com.au/news/can_australia_afford_to_waste_its_organic_waste/081439/">one estimate</a>, if all the organic waste from Australian domestic, industrial and agricultural industries was treated in biogas plants, it would have the potential to produce around 650 megawatts of electricity. That’s enough to power almost one million Australian homes.</p>
<h2>How it works</h2>
<p>Getting the process right can be tricky but the science is simple: fill an airtight tank known as an anaerobic (oxygen-free) digester with slurry made from biological waste, then let the bacteria get to work to produce a methane-rich gas that can be used to generate electricity and heat.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/68791/original/image-20150113-23804-pf90ni.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Nope, it’s not a giant golf ball. This container in Scotland is storing biogas, ready for energy production.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/greenerleith/5028920897">Greener Leith</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Use what you need to power your pumps, motors and circuitry, and sell the rest back to the grid so that in as little as five years you recoup what you’ve outlaid on your biogas plant.</p>
<p>Renewable energy provided <a href="http://www.cleanenergycouncil.org.au/policy-advocacy/reports/clean-energy-australia-report.html">14.8%</a> of Australian electricity generation during 2013. Bioenergy totalled 7% of this, with biogas contributing to about 2.0% of the share of total renewable electricity capacity. In comparison, wind stands at 26% while solar power is 11%. The bioenergy industry expects biogas could be more important than solar, and as important as wind. The remainder of Australian bioenergy comes mostly from the combustion of sugarcane waste, also known as bagasse.</p>
<p>The majority of biogas plants in Australia – upwards of 50 – are associated with municipal waste treatment facilities. Commercial operations include <a href="http://www.melbournewater.com.au/whatwedo/Liveability-and-environment/energy/Pages/Energy-efficiencies-and-renewable-sources.aspx">Melbourne Water</a> and <a href="https://www.sydneywater.com.au/Publications/Reports/AnnualReport/2009/performance/optimising_resources.html">Sydney Water</a>, which use sewage as their biogas feedstock.</p>
<h2>Low-cost options emerge</h2>
<p>The slow uptake of the technology, particularly in the intensive livestock industries, has been due to the difficult financial environment, policy uncertainty and grid connectivity. </p>
<p>Covered anaerobic lagoons, sometimes called ponds, are the preferred type of digester for Australian agricultural industries – they are a low-cost option which performs well under our warmer conditions with minimal maintenance.</p>
<p>The technology has attracted a lot of attention in the pork industry over the past 10 or so years with <a href="http://infohouse.p2ric.org/ref/03/02635.htm">Berrybank</a> near Ballarat and <a href="http://blantyrefarms.com.au/quality-sustainability">Blantyre Farms</a> at Young using piggery waste as their major feedstock. </p>
<p>Abattoirs, dairies and poultry farms are also investing in biogas technology as they look for a means of solving their waste and odour problems as well as reducing their carbon footprints, not to mention their electricity and natural gas bills.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/68914/original/image-20150113-28455-tp0bo0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A biogas plant in Austria.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.rohkraft.net/en/">rohkraft.net</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The uptake of this technology has produced significant energy savings and environmental improvements for red-meat processing plants such as the <a href="http://www.beefcentral.com/processing/jbs-biogaswater-project-wins-award-for-environmental-innovation/">JBS Dinmore</a> facility and the <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-08-26/rendering-plant-energy-savings/5686688">AJ Bush Beaudesert</a> rendering plant, both located in South-East Queensland.</p>
<p>The recent installation of covered anaerobic lagoons by <a href="http://www.beefcentral.com/processing/environment-processing-waste-water-moves-from-problem-to-profit/">Oakey Beef Exports</a> and <a href="http://www.cleanenergyfinancecorp.com.au/media/63281/20130731-cefc-pdf-factsheet-darlingdownsfresheggs_lr.pdf">Darling Downs Fresh Eggs</a> demonstrates the huge potential to adopt biogas technology in one of Australia’s key livestock-producing and food-processing regions. </p>
<h2>ARENA puts Australia in global talks</h2>
<p>Interest in using biological feedstock including manure has encouraged the Federal Government’s <a href="http://arena.gov.au/">Australian Renewable Energy Agency</a> (ARENA) to fund Australia’s involvement in the International Energy Association’s (IEA) Bioenergy Task 37: Energy from Biogas.</p>
<p>This funding, secured through the industry-funded body <a href="http://www.bioenergyaustralia.org/">Bioenergy Australia</a>, means Australia can sit at a table of global representatives to look at what is going right and what is going wrong in biogas production systems around the world.</p>
<p>Part of Bioenergy Australia’s involvement in Task 37 is to look at which Australian industries are hurting the most through waste disposal problems and huge power bills, and where it is feasible for biogas to turn that around.</p>
<p>If we get it right, biogas could be making a significant contribution to Australia’s Renewable Energy Target (RET) to deliver a 20% share for renewables in Australia’s electricity mix in 2020.</p>
<p>Bioenergy Australia’s aim is less concrete: that by 2020, bioenergy will be recognised and widely adopted as a sustainable resource in Australia.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/36136/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Bernadette McCabe receives funding from Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA) and Australian Meat Processor Corporation (AMPC). She is a member of Bioenergy Australia and is Australia&#39;s National Team Leader for the International Energy Agency&#39;s (IEA) Bioenergy Task 37: Energy from Biogas.</span></em></p>Could what we flush down the toilet be used to power our homes? Thanks to biogas technology, Australia’s relationship with organic waste – human and animal excreta, plant scraps and food-processing waste…Bernadette McCabe, Associate Professor and Vice Chancellor's Senior Research Fellow, University of Southern QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/346152014-11-25T06:23:31Z2014-11-25T06:23:31ZBeyond the ‘poo bus’: the many uses of human waste<p>A British “<a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-30115137">poo bus</a>” went into service last week, powered by biomethane energy derived from human waste at a sewage plant. </p>
<p>For those of us who follow these matters – and my academic works include <a href="http://phg.sagepub.com/content/early/2011/02/12/0309132510394704">Geographies of Shit: Spatial and temporal variations in attitudes towards human waste</a> – this was an exciting moment, a rare piece of good PR for human waste. After all, most societies strongly associate it with a sense of disgust. Poo threatens the health of around 2.5 billion people … and it smells bad. </p>
<p>Yet it also represents an important resource, used in lots of different ways throughout history. Though the “poo bus” has captured the imagination there are many other uses for human waste.</p>
<h2>Farmer’s friend</h2>
<p>Urine is particularly versatile. In Medieval Europe, it was widely used to clean clothes while the Romans used it for tanning leather and cleaning wool. </p>
<p>It also makes an excellent agricultural fertiliser. Before the 19th century realisation that human waste was a health risk, sewage was routinely transported from British towns to villages for use as manure. </p>
<p>However, most of the health risks can be eliminated if urine (harmless if unpleasant) and feces (full of diseases) are separated at source through some form of <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-not-change-the-way-you-wee-to-save-the-world-31317">urine diversion toilet</a>. Such strategies make sound environmental and economic sense given the urine produced annually by each adult contains enough plant nutrients <a href="http://www.ecosanres.org/pdf_files/Ecological_Sanitation.pdf">to grow 250kg of grain</a>, enough to feed them for a year.</p>
<p>China has a long history of using such toilets to collect urine for use as a fertiliser. In some regions of Sweden these toilets are now mandatory, improving environmental quality as well as creating significant savings on fertiliser costs for farmers. </p>
<h2>Poo power</h2>
<p>Although harvesting biogas from human waste is not a new concept (Assyrians were using it to warm their bath water back in the <a href="http://www.adelaide.edu.au/biogas/history/">10th century BC</a>), the potential to simultaneously manage waste and generate power has attracted increasing attention in recent decades.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/65381/original/image-20141124-8334-8lgtx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">What to do with all this sludge?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/gtzecosan/6305610332">SusAnA</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Modern waste treatment leaves behind sewage sludge that has traditionally been difficult to dispose of. However when the sludge is fed into a large vat, essentially like a stomach, and left to digest (an anaerobic digestion plant) it can produce valuable biogas and nutrient-rich digestate. </p>
<p>Biogas can be used directly as a fuel, cleaned up to create bio-methane or fed through a combined heat and power unit to generate electricity. The digestate can be used as a fertiliser or soil conditioner, helping in the process to reduce methane emissions, enhance plant growth and sequester carbon through photosynthesis.</p>
<p>In rural China especially, low-tech biogas sanitation systems play an important role in killing pathogens while providing clean cooking fuel and fertiliser from the digestate. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.cardiff.ac.uk/archi/programmes/cost8/case/watersewerage/bromma.html">Sweden</a> and Germany are particularly big anaerobic digestion users. In Germany, sewage plants can sell their excess energy back to the national grid. Attractive tariffs designed to promote renewable energy have even meant many plants have started to “feed” their anaerobic digestion units with purpose-grown energy. </p>
<p>Though the UK’s biogas industry lags behind that of countries like Sweden and Germany, some sewage works are already releasing biogas into the national grid. With each adult producing around 30kg of dried sewage each year, there is lots of growth potential. If all of the UK’s sewage plants adopted this technology, <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11433162">around 350,000 homes</a> could be supplied with gas derived from human waste.</p>
<h2>Toilet-fuelled transport</h2>
<p>The environmental benefits of poo-powered travel are clear: bio-methane produces 95% less CO<sub>2</sub> and 80% less nitrous oxide than diesel as well as having no particulate emissions. In the UK, there is enough bio-methane to fuel half the country’s large trucks. </p>
<p>Four years ago engineers developed a <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/news/7929191/Bio-Bug-Car-run-on-human-waste-is-launched.html">VW Beetle fuelled by bio-methane gas</a> generated at the Avonmouth sewage plant near Bristol. This same sewage plant is now powering the “poo bus” and it could do even more. Avonmouth produces around 17m cubic meters of bio-methane each year which, if exported to the grid, could meet the gas needs of 8,300 homes. </p>
<p>But Sweden, again, is a leader here. Their transport policy has prioritised the development of bio-methane for trucks and buses; an initiative that has helped to clean up the air and <a href="http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201012/cmselect/cmenvaud/1024/1024vw05.htm">meet renewable energy targets</a>. </p>
<p>At a smaller and more experimental scale, meanwhile, researchers at the Bristol Robotics Laboratory have succeeded in <a href="http://info.uwe.ac.uk/news/uwenews/news.aspx?id=2598">charging a mobile phone</a> using electricity generated from urine. Using a microbial fuel stack, they have succeeded in taking advantage of the metabolism of live micro-organisms to create electricity from convert organic matter – in this case urine. </p>
<p>Other research teams working on similar “<a href="http://www.industrytap.com/using-urine-to-power-a-cell-phone-soon-well-all-be-doing-it/16512">pee conversion</a>” technologies have succeeded in generating <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2011/mar/09/pee-power-fuel-hydrogen-urine">electricity, clean water and hydrogen</a> from human waste. </p>
<p>If such technologies can be made to work on a bigger scale, the future for renewable power looks not only bright … but yellow.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/34615/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sarah Jewitt does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A British “poo bus” went into service last week, powered by biomethane energy derived from human waste at a sewage plant. For those of us who follow these matters – and my academic works include Geographies…Sarah Jewitt, Associate Professor of Geography, University of NottinghamLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.